Mark began shouting immediately. “Split up and move! Like planned!”

  He didn’t have to say that twice. The plan was simple, really. Bryga and Dusk would hold one army, Fink and the majority of the goblins would hold down another, and Crudia and I would try to hold off the third. Wherever the dragon decided to land would decide where we’d meet up to try to tackle the threat together.

  I watched as Bryga grabbed Dusk and whooped as she jumped from the fortification. She disappeared in a second, Timmy hurrying to follow. I, sadly, didn’t think I’d just shrug off a fall like that, and so I hurried to the stairs.

  I heard rumbling as I hurried to sprint down, Crudia just in front of me. Everything shook, making the descent harder, making a thirty second descent become twice as long. Thankfully, I was right at the gates now, watching the giant door get guarded by several dozen guards shaking in their boots.

  I hurried to climb onto the walls, ascending onto the smaller fortification, and I went to take place in between the line of guardsmen. The ones that would stand here were the better trained ones. The folks who held a weapon before.

  And then I watched the army approach once again.

  The snakes were the ones that would be my enemies today. They walked and slithered ever closer, apparently waiting for their dragon overlord. I could see how cocky they were even from the distance.

  “Any second now.” Mark whispered, visibly excited.

  I wondered what the source of his excitement was for a second. A snake woman in the distance slithered over some black grass, without even a thought that it could be something else than it seemed.

  And then spikes shot up from below, the steel arrows piercing her whole body and two more that stood right behind her. She screamed in pain, trying to wiggle yet failing. She was bleeding so heavily that I had doubts she’d last more than a few seconds now.

  Similar things were happening all around. Lizard women walking forward, stepping on one trap or another, and the thing always took at least one of them down, though it was rarely just one that it killed. It didn’t stop them completely, but it made them careful. It made them feel fear.

  That was good enough.

  “Archers. Draw and loose!” Shouted Crudia, her voice leaving no space for questions. The men hesitated just for a second, then grabbed their bows, and let loose the arrows. They flew in an arc, and… most of them missed.

  But the few that did hit managed to skewer even more lizard women than I expected. They hurried up now, panicked, and that made even more of them run onto the traps and die from them. It was carnage below us.

  And while this all went down, the dragon continued approaching. It was still too high up in the sky, but it would be here in a minute. Worse, the lizard people finally started closing the distance. A few of the snake women started chanting, magical glowing circles appearing in front of them, and the ground before the walls… shifted. A slope was where even ground was before.

  “Shit.” Talisha cursed, not taking her eyes off of our enemies.

  The real fight was beginning. The biggest of all I’ve been through yet. I could barely contain my excitement.

  The lizards swarmed to occupy the whole slope, their numbers greatly lowered by the traps and arrows, but still way too many to count. Their feet and tails hit the rocky slope itself, the material holding without issue. Just a few seconds now.

  I summoned my shields, and heard Crudia summoning her own weapons. The soldiers around us dropped their weapons and hurried to hold their shields and spears without an order, obviously prepared for this exact situation.

  Looking around, most of them looked on the verge of just running away. Probably the smart choice, if they decided to do so. But no. They all held. I’ve rarely felt so proud. I looked forward again, bracing for impact against the wave of enemies.

  It only took a moment.

  I barely managed to remain standing as they attacked, the swarm of bodies pushing the soldiers backward. Their weapons clinked off my shields, sending sparks flying. Crudia remained ducked just behind me, watching for an opportunity. I blocked to the best of my abilities, moving my arms like a madman, a bulwark in front of the soldiers. The fight was equal at their sides; the snakes were obviously stronger, but the spears let them poke from a longer distance than their enemies could, forcing them to stay back.

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  Most of them were occupied trying to get at me anyway.

  An opportunity for Crudia was presented in just a short while later, and she sprung up as if she was one of those traps from the field herself. She ducked under my arms and swiped with her daggers at a snake that overextended trying to attack me. Following the swipe, she pierced the skull of another, using the body to do a backflip onto another, almost completely clearing the space in front of me.

  Our enemies could barely understand what just happened. She scuttled back as they finally registered what was happening and tried to kill her in turn. They failed, of course. She disappeared from their sight without a single blemish. That was enough of a distraction for me.

  I punched, finally letting my arms loose at the snake ladies. Some of them dodged, more agile on their feet than the others were on the tails, but they weren’t strong enough. Each of my attacks left one of them tumbling, sagging onto the ground, or screaming in pain. I kicked out at one of the bodies, making it roll down the slope. Some of the soldiers noticed the tactic, and hastened to follow suit.

  I heard screams of men around me, bleeding, losing limbs… dying. Replaced by another in seconds, but they still fell, almost as fast as our enemies did. I didn’t want to see it, even though I heard enough to make a clear image in my head. But they knew what was at stake. They either held the position, or everyone that was dear to them would die. I knew it was reason enough for them to stand. They would hold, defend their position as long as at least one of them still lived.

  The gates, where we left the citizens-turned-soldiers, remained untouched. The people from there were slowly going up the walls, probably realizing there’d be no action there.

  Every snake just rushed at us, as if we were some kind of grand prize. Worse than all of that combined, however, was the dragon. He finally closed the distance, but instead of going in one direction in particular, he just… remained in the air, his giant wings flapping .

  If only he decided to hover a bit lower. I really wanted to analyze that beast. It looked giant even from this far away.

  Focusing back, I blocked another attack, letting the curved blade slide on my shield and then using the same shield to smash the skull of the attacker, crushing it completely. How weak.

  I smashed into another one, registering Crudia dashing forward again in another blur of strikes.

  And that’s when it happened. The dragon, stationary in the air until now, smashed his wings downwards and picked up speed, aiming to the other end of the city.

  “He’s going to where Fink is!” Mark bellowed from behind me.

  That wasn’t good. The goblins guarding him there were stronger than these men, but they weren’t as strong as us. I looked around, wincing at the sight of men dying. But they’d hold. They’d have to.

  The momentary distraction cost me, a slash streaking hot red blood onto the ground. I ground my teeth and returned the favor, already stepping back.

  “Crudia! Follow!” I shouted as loudly as I could, hoping that she’d hear. Running, I skirted around the men that cluttered the stairway, moving them out of the way. They watched with surprise in their faces, most of them sticky with nervous sweat, making me feel even worse than I already did. It wasn’t my fault that my friend needed saving, okay?

  Crudia overtook me, sprinting forward, already making distance. My wounds started closing, but I used a health potion just to be safe, not wanting to fight the dragon without being on top of my form.

  The buildings blurred around me as I ran, hoping that Fink would be fine. I didn’t love the guy, but I didn’t hate him now, after yesterday and the talk before. I wanted him to live. Using that as a motivation to sprint to the best of my capabilities, I ran even faster, somehow keeping up with Crudia. Maybe she was just letting me catch up.

  The walls at the southern end of the city became visible after two minutes. Or, better said, what was left of them. The rocks were thrown all around, some of them destroying the surrounding buildings, the wall itself completely destroyed and completely covered in blood.

  Wolves were already approaching from the now-built gap, carefully walking around the dragon that stood there, his baleful eyes looking his enemies over. The thing was huge, bigger than I expected. As tall as most of the two story buildings around us. Its black scales reflected the sunlight, giving it an air of regality, its four legs and two wings giving it the illusion of a bigger size than it actually was.

  While each boss I’ve encountered felt like a threat in their own right, this one was different. What I felt from it was not just danger. I felt hatred. Concentrated malice so vast that I failed to understand it.

  How could the feeling be so… solid? It felt as if it was an aura that surrounded the creature. Its giant head swung around, looking at the people that it killed by just landing on top of them. Hundreds remained, goblins and humans alike, each of them prepared to fight. The dragon actually chuckled at that.

  And a glass globe hit right in its eye, exploding into gas.

  “What are you two standing around for! Get him!” Fink appeared not far away, emerging from the crowd.

  Gummz gave me a wave as he finally managed to meet my eyes after shoving one of the townsfolk away. “Hey boss! Got the beastie here!”

  “I see. Crudia, Fink, you ready?”

  They nodded simultaneously. Bryga and Dusk were nowhere to be seen, but I had to trust I’d be able to hold on in this fight for long enough. Eh, who was I kidding? I knew I’d hold. Maybe I’d have a dragon head to show off with by the time they got their asses here.

  Taking in a deep breath, barely able to contain my excitement, I rushed forward.